Rethinking Radio

The challenge

Radio is magical and dead-simple. At the touch of a button one can listen to her favourite radio station. How cool is that? However, the rise of online music streaming services is challenging radio stations to rediscover themselves. Spotify and the likes offer instant personalised music streamed to every connected device nearby at an incomparable convenience.

Facing this challenge, MaRadio, a radio platform for the French-speaking Belgian radio stations (such as RTL, RTBF, Nostalgie and FunRadio) contacted Central. They asked us: “How might we improve the player’s listening experience on all devices, so that we can still compete with the convenience of streaming services?”

Our approach

We had two months to rethink and transform MaRadio’s old platform into a new listening experience for smartphones, tablets, computers and TV.

We kicked-off the project with a design sprint, inviting to our studio the decision-makers of the –usually competing– radio stations. Through hands-on exercises we defined the goals and vision of the project, reviewed other popular platforms, asked everyone to draw how he imagined the platform, and rated and discussed the ideas that emerged. At the end of the day we had a complete picture of what needed to be done, and a vision that guided our design decisions throughout the project.

Results

From there on, we worked on how the players should work, look and feel, respecting both technical limitations and each brand’s identity. Using wireframes, prototypes and visual design, we refined our initial ideas to deliver an appealing multiplatform experience.